Animals
- Life
Capybaras thrive, even near humans, because they’re not picky eaters
Scientists didn’t expect capybaras to eat both grasses and forest plants. The rodents’ flexible diet helps them live everywhere from cities to swamps.
- Animals
Volcanic sulfur may make barn owls grow redder feathers
Barn owls on volcanic islands tend to have redder plumage than those on nonvolcanic islands, possibly due to an influx of sulfur in the environment.
- Animals
These transparent fish turn rainbow with white light. Now, we know why
Repeated structures in the ghost catfish’s muscles separate white light that passes through their bodies into different wavelengths.
- Animals
Scientists have now recorded brain waves from freely moving octopuses
The data reveal some unexpected patterns, though it’s too early to know how octopus brains control the animals’ behavior, a new study finds.
- Physics
Static electricity helps parasitic nematodes glom onto victims
The small electric charge generated by a moving insect is enough to affect the trajectory of a parasitic nematode’s leap so it lands right on its host.
- Animals
A ‘fire wolf’ fish could expand what we know about one unusual deep-sea ecosystem
Unlike other known methane seeps, Jacó Scar is slightly warmer than the surrounding water and is a home for both cold-loving and heat-loving organisms.
- Life
Honeybees waggle to communicate. But to do it well, they need dance lessons
Young honeybees can’t perfect waggling on their own after all. Without older sisters to practice with, youngsters fail to nail distances.
- Neuroscience
Scientists have mapped an insect brain in greater detail than ever before
Researchers have built a nerve cell “connectivity map” of a larval fruit fly brain. It’s the most complex whole brain wiring diagram yet made.
- Health & Medicine
Bird flu can jump to mammals. Should we worry?
Reports of bears and sea lions infected with H5N1 have sparked fears about the pandemic potential of bird flu. Experts are keeping a close eye on its spread.
- Animals
What the first look at the genetics of Chernobyl’s dogs revealed
Dogs living in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant industrial area are genetically distinct from other dogs, but scientists don’t yet know if radiation is the reason.
- Animals
The fastest claw in the sea belongs to young snapping shrimp
When juveniles snap their claws shut to create imploding bubbles, they create the fastest accelerating underwater movements of any reusable body part.
- Life
Chemical signals from fungi tell bark beetles which trees to infest
As fungi break down defensive chemicals in trees, some byproducts act as signals to bark beetle pests, telling them which trees are most vulnerable.
